If you're tempted to vote straight ticket for the Democratic Party make sure to scroll down the ballot for this race. Incumbent Republican Marc Carter, 59, is key proponent of diversionary courts in Harris County and he deserves your vote.

But if you can't bring yourself to vote for a Republican, at least don't cast your ballot for his Democratic opponent, Frank Aguilar.

Aguilar has no campaign website that we could find and doesn't seem to be actively running for this bench. However, we did find that a former magistrate Frank Aguilar was charged in 2010 with assault on a family member. We wish we could ask Aguilar about this, but we couldn't get him in for an endorsement meeting.

Overall, if a candidate isn't transparent enough to promote his credentials during campaign season, he has no business holding a position that involves public trust.

In contrast, Carter — who's been on the bench since 2003 — has a very public record starting with a distinguished background in the military. The Thurgood Marshall School of Law graduate was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army Military Intelligence Corps and achieved the rank of captain. He then joined the Harris County District Attorney's office before opening a private practice.

Most importantly, Carter has volunteered to oversee Harris County's diversion courts, which help keep defendants out of jail and provide treatment for their underlying problems.

He began with a mental health docket, and for the past nine years has run the veteran's court in addition to his regular docket. In that time, 89 percent of the men and women who successfully complete probation under the guidance of the Veteran's Court have not re-offended, according to Carter. This is a truly remarkable statistic and one deserving of our appreciation.

The incumbent lives his life so that he can be a model to his probationers. He told us that he doesn't drink alcohol so he can tell the people in his court, "I'm not asking you to do anything that I can't do."

He went on to add, "I make bad decisions all the time. But I make them sober and I'm accountable for them."

Carter's defeat would mean the loss of nearly two decades of institutional knowledge. Voters can make a good decision by keeping Carter on the bench.